Grain-bin.



No. 782,102. PATENTED JUNE 30, I903. G. M. MQULTON & J. M. WITHERSPOON. GRAIN BIN.

APPLIQATIOR FILED APR. 24, 1903.

N0 MODEL,

6%, 6 5607 76 7.72. mouZian/ W Wm U ITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE M. MOULTON AND JOHN M. WITHERSPOON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-BIN.

SPECIFICATION forming" part of Letters Patent No. 732,102, dated June '30, 1903. Application filed April 24, 1903. Serial No. 154,091. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE M. MOULTON and JOHN M. WITHERSPOON, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Grain-Bins, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

Our invention relates to cylindrical tile grain-bins; and its object is to provide an improved structure which will possess great strength and afiord complete protection to the contents against water or fire.

We will describe our invention by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the wall of a cylindrical grain-bin constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of a fragment of the wall in perspective, showing how the parts are constructed and built up; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a single one of the tiles used in the construction.

The same letters of reference are used to designate corresponding parts wherever shown.

It has been proposed heretofore to construct grain-bins of courses of straight and narrow hollow tiles arranged vertically and intermediate courses of horizontally-arranged shallow trough-shaped tiles of lesser height with metal tension members embedded in cement in said trough-shaped tiles. Such construction has been found somewhat objectionable in that the vertical tiles afford only narrow edges for the application of the cement mortar at the joints, so that in a driving rain or continued wet weather the moisture could penetrate the thin walls and, running down. the inside, find its way to the interior of the bin, so causing damage to the grain within. Owing to the thinness of the material at the joints this structure was also somewhat lacking in strength and required special skill in its construction to apply the mortar thoroughly and evenly to the narrow vertical edges without allowing considerable quantities to fall down in the vertical hollows. A proposed remedy for these defects has been to provide sheets of wire-netting or metal fabric interposed between the joints to assist in sustaining the mortar; but this expedient besides being expensive has not been entirely efiective to meet the objections above pointed out. A further objectionable feature of this construction is that in building up the wall before the hardening of the mortar the smaller trough-shaped tiles would be easily displaced because of their lack of weight and their insecure seat upon the edges of the vertical tiles, this result being frequently brought about by the lateral thrust of the metal tension members when these latter did not conform exactly to the curvature of the tank and were slightly sprung or placed in the troughs under a stress.

In accordance with our invention the tiles 0. a instead of being set vertically on end are disposed horizontally with fiat plane surfaces (1' at top and bottom. 7 These surfaces may, however, be scored or roughened to hold the mortar more readily. The tiles are also preferably made curved to correspond to the curvature of the bin. The trough-tilesbare preferably made of substantially the same external shape and. dimensions as the other tiles and are constructed with an intermediate horizontal cross-web b a short distance below the top, forming the bottom of the trough. These tiles are also preferably provided with a strengthening-web b joining said cross-web with the bottom wall of the tile. A considerable advantage arises from making the trough-tiles of large size and weight, corresponding to the other tiles, in that the wall maybe more rapidly built and the tiles are less likely to be displaced by the tension members or from other causes during construction.

The tension members 0 c are laid in the troughs, as usual, with cement mortar cl, packed in about them to the level of the top of the trough. Broad fiat surfaces extending throughout the thickness of the wall are thus provided for the application of the mortar between each and every horizontal course of tiles, making the structure of great strength, with the joints of such thickness that the passage of moisture through them is effectively prevented. h

The tension members 0 c in each course of trough-tiles 12 form, in effect, a continuous band or hoop extending entirely around the bin and built into the wall thereof to strengthen it against bulging pressure from the inside.

We prefer to provide our grain-bins with armor-tiles e e, applied to the outer walls, as shown.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. A grain-bin having its walls built up of courses of horizontally-disposed hollow tiles a at having flat plane surfaces at top and bottom, intermediate courses of trough-tiles b b, tension members disposed in the troughs, and

cement mortar packed around said tension members 'and filling said troughs to the level of the top surfaces of said tiles, the top and bottom of each course of tiles being thus provided with continuous engaging surfaces for the mortar throughout the thickness of the wall, whereby the wall is made solid along the horizontal joints.

2. A cylindrical grain-bin builtup of courses of horizontally-disposed hollow tiles a a having flat plane surfaces at top and bottom, and intermediate courses of hollow trough-tiles b of substantially the same external form and dimensions as said tiles a,each ofsaid troughtiles being constructed with a horizontal intermediate web I) forming the bottom of the wall, whereby the wall is made solid along the horizontal joints.

3. A fireproof cylindrical grain-bin built up of courses of horizontally-disposed hollow curved tiles 6 having flat plane surfaces at the top and bottom, and intermediate courses of trough-tiles b of substantially the same external form and dimensions as said tiles a, each of said trough-tiles being constructed with a horizontal intermediate web Z) forming the bottom of the trough, and a supporting-web b joining said horizontal Web with the bottom of the tile, tension members cdisposed in the annular troughs formed by said tiles 1), and cement mortar packed in said troughs around the tension members.

4. A tile wall comprising courses of horizontally-arranged tiles h, each of said tiles having a horizontal intermediateweb forming the bottom of an open trough, the lower portion of the tile under said web being hol- 

